Wild Inside The National Zoo: The Future of Maned Wolves

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, VA (part of Smithsonian's National Zoo), is an eminent research center dedicated to studying and saving rare species. The web series WILD INSIDE THE NATIONAL ZOO takes an eye-opening look at the crucial conservation work done to protect the zoo’s animals and the complex relationships their caretakers form with them. In this episode, “The Future of Maned Wolves,” we meet Echo and Zayda, a pair of maned wolf adults who’ve finally welcomed their first litter of pups into the world after three years together. Female canids like Zayda have only one estrous cycle a year with a five-day window to conceive, which makes successful captive breeding efforts both crucial and very difficult for near-threatened species like this pair. But breakthrough in-vitro fertilization research with beagles at the Cornell-Smithsonian Joint Graduate Training Program could change the future of canid conservation in exciting and promising ways. Join researchers and caretakers as they walk us through this groundbreaking science and introduce us to the animals it's helping.